Buy, Lie, and Sell High: How Investors Lost Out on Enron and the Internet Bubble

Talking Points

The bubble allowed financial firms to take advantage of public excitement through the creation of companies for the sole purpose of going public. They did this by encouraging entrepreneurs whom they funded to get-big-fast. This seemed to make sense when the entrepreneurs observed companies, such as Amazon.com, that employed the get-big-fast strategy and appeared to succeed. Unfortunately, with this strategy, there was no opportunity for learning, and none to get-it-right as opposed to get-big-fast. Although some entrepreneurs were at fault for not knowing enough about business, or building companies simply as a vehicle to take public, their primary role was to build the company's economic value. The role of the financial institutions ...